Miracle Reviews some games she played

New Super Mario Bros. (NDS) vs New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Yay I found a fairer competition for 2D Mario!

Convenience/Portability: DS, because well, it's on the DS
Controls: Wii. You get to use a nunchuck if desired, which idk a lot of people seem to prefer to the d pad. Plus the motion controls were neatly implemented.
Gameplay elements: Wii. Though we lost the mega mushroom and the blue shell, I'd argue it's an improvement overall, with the propeller mushroom, ice flower, midair twirl, and I guess Yoshi as well though he wasn't that great and was underused tbh.
Multiplayer: Wii. We got to have multiple people in the same course at once at any point in the main story, which was really great
Length: I believe Wii is longer? If so it wins.
Balancing: Wii. DS seemed generally easy all around, whereas Wii was a game that could be very aptly challenging when it needed to, though it started easy enough and was very much beatable for a child.
Postgame: Wii because world 9 whereas DS didn't really have any iirc.
Extras: DS. That game had genuinely great minigames whereas in Wii the coin battle and free play were kinda lame.
Level design: Probably Wii. They were both great, but Wii (despite a few minor issues such as emptiness that DS didn't have) just felt a little more creative and genius overall. Hard to judge though.
Graphics: Wii no doubt - the DS very much limited NSMBDS graphically whereas NSMBW was quite good even by Wii standards.
Story: DS, solely for
Bowser getting in the lava and coming back as Dry Bowser and all that
Characters: DS. In addition to what's in the above spoiler tags, we had more original enemies and bosses iirc.
Music: Wii. Overall it felt cleaner without the DS audio restrictions and idk I just recall this game having more variety and tracks that were particularly impressive like World 9 Map or the final boss theme.
Dialogue: Once again a tie due to both having essentially none.

One additional note as I didn't really know where to put this: The saving thing in DS was annoying as you'd lose a few levels of progress due only being able to save at towers, castles, or world warps, an issue Wii significantly improved due to the Quick Save feature.

Verdict: Wii. It's simply the better game in most ways. Some people say NSMB series is too repetitive but really I do think Wii improves DS in general, though it might have been nice to have more originality, particularly in the story.
 
I do respect your opinion on the game and I'm glad you enjoyed it. The individual sections of the review were good, but the way you weighed them in your verdict...I get that you liked the story and presentation, but the gameplay is the defining feature of a game and if the gameplay gets a 7/10 then the game overall shouldn't be getting a 9/10. This is the thing about "nonpersonal" reviews--a factor may not matter as much to you, but it will to other people. 8/10 would be a more reasonable score.

Personally? Maybe I've been a bit harsh on it--I do like the game, it has some fun ideas. But it never went above and beyond its predecessors to me. The game, and I'll say it again, tries to be two genres at the same time and doesn't do exceptionally well in either of them. Real-time combat just wasn't as fun, the level design could have used more variety, and the 3D mechanic was just so underused. It's decent, but that's just it--other Paper Marios were more than decent. I did like the story, too, but to me, it just didn't feel like Mario, and I think I would have liked it more if there were more established Mario characters alongside the original ones. I like the game and admire that it tried for something different, but the end result just never went above and beyond. Overall, I'd give the game a 7/10.
 
Thank you for your feedback YFJ!

Varian said:
the gameplay is the defining feature of a game and if the gameplay gets a 7/10 then the game overall shouldn't be getting a 9/10.
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For gaming in general maybe, but this is Paper Mario. As a huge fan of the series, I've read a lot of people's opinions on it (though I don't claim to be the most knowledgeable) and I can say that we really do care about story and presentation, and that when we remember games like TTYD which almost all of us loved, I see at least as many people who've been moved by non-gameplay stuff than gameplay stuff. There seem to be many (though by no means all) fans who forgave SPM and/or would be willing to forgive SS and CS for their (in their opinion) gameplay for a good story, and I really do think that story and presentation can improve a game very much even if the gameplay isn't that great. So nonpersonally, I wouldn't say the gameplay is the most important thing, at least not by far.

Varian said:
But it never went above and beyond its predecessors to me
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Once I have TTYD done here I'll be doing SPM vs TTYD (which as my top 2 fav VGs is going to be a VERY difficult comparison for me to make without personal stuff). But I get that people have personal opinions even when we do talk about the same games nonpersonally so I respect your opinion if you liked the first two and/or the last two more.

Varian said:
Personally? Maybe I've been a bit harsh on it--I do like the game, it has some fun ideas. But it never went above and beyond its predecessors to me. The game, and I'll say it again, tries to be two genres at the same time and doesn't do exceptionally well in either of them. Real-time combat just wasn't as fun, the level design could have used more variety, and the 3D mechanic was just so underused. It's decent, but that's just it--other Paper Marios were more than decent. I did like the story, too, but to me, it just didn't feel like Mario, and I think I would have liked it more if there were more established Mario characters alongside the original ones. I like the game and admire that it tried for something different, but the end result just never went above and beyond. Overall, I'd give the game a 7/10.
Click to expand...
I get it. I understand why personally you don't like the game as much as me. But I hope you understand why I do, and that you can agree with me nonpersonally

Varian said:
8/10 would be a more reasonable score.
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Meh je pense pas. The numerical average of 10, 8, and 9 is 8.67, which is closer to 9 than 10 (I don't always think the overall score should be the average of the individual parts, but still I'm pointing it out.) I know you said that gameplay should be the most important thing earlier, but honestly I really don't think the gameplay drags it down enough to be an 8. Yes I do use half scores sometimes, but only when I really can't decide between two, and I'd definitely put this one closer to 9 than 8 - despite not being phenomenal gameplay wise it's still a unique and otherworldy adventure which has a lot of positive qualities.
 
Super Paper Mario vs. New Super Mario Bros. Wii

I still remember being 8 years old and having to decide between three games to choose two as xmas presents. Those three games were new super mario bros. wii, super paper mario, and bowser's inside story. I chose the first two. The 25th comes around, I think "I'll try 30 mins of NSMBW and 30 mins of SPM." But NSMBW was so cool I didn't want to stop, I carried on playing for a few days. After all my parents looked at Super Paper Mario and were like "you sure you want that silly paper one, it doesn't look very good." but nah I chose it anyway. But yeah it didn't look that cool tbh. And then my brother played it and I walked in on him and that very second it hit me THIS GAME IS FREAKING AMAZING I HAVE TO PLAY IT RIGHT NOW and oh my god I was not dissappointed

Ahem... so both games are games which in big part are 2D Mario platformers for the Wii and nonpersonally I've decided that they're both pretty good games, but let's compare them! I'm going for the kind of platformer structure rather than RPG as that's what they more have in common.

Convenience/Portability: I would say NSMBW. Its levels seem more bite sized and allow more frequent saving whereas SPM is a lot more of a chunky level game and only lets you save at save blocks. A minor advantage but worthy of note nonetheless.
Controls: NSMBW. In addition to the option to use a nunchuck, the game itself has tighter controls internally, allowing the player to feel more in control of Mario.
Gameplay elements: SPM by a long shot. In addition to flipping we had the character switching and the HP system and things like keys and cards and pixls and a lot of stuff that generally allowed the gameplay to be a lot more creative. SPM has a variety of interesting gameplay elements which Mario has never encountered before whereas NSMBW's are solid but not really special in any way.
Multiplayer: NSMBW because multiplayer actually exists and not only that is pretty good
Length: I definitely feel SPM was at least a little short whereas NSMBW seems to be a more satisfactory length
Balancing: NSMBW easily. That game actually does the balancing really well in its accessibility to less experienced players but ability to get genuinely challenging. Whereas SPM is generally right, starts easy and gets harder and has even harder side quests, but the battle system is very much broken, and the level design isn't as positively challenging
Postgame: It's very hard to choose, but I'm going to say SPM as the pit of 100 trials was legitamately great even though the cards and recipes were tedious, and I guess the maps were alright. NSMBW does have decent postgame, but aside from a few world 9 stages which I mean I don't see them as that rewarding, other than that it is just replaying old levels to get the star coins
Extras: SPM for its legit cool arcade games rather than just the free play and coin battle which really weren't that great in NSMBW.
Level design: Very easily NSMBW. That game had consistently great level design which was always apt and well thought out, besides a few minor issues it was very good overall and challenged the player in an entertaining way. SPM on the other hand, was heavily flawed in some areas and at its best was kinda interesting but nothing incredible. I don't think SPM's level design was bad overall but it's miles behind most of the main series games including NSMBW.
Graphics: NSMBW. It looks cleaner and more detailed whereas SPM's graphics were OK but nothing to write home about
Story: imagine SPM as super dimentio and nsmbw as a fly he's sitting on
Characters: Now imagine he got out a fly swatter
Music: SPM. NSMBW had some genuinely great tunes believe me but SPM was just really good. It's very hard not to be biased here, but I'm listening to SPM ost right now and it's really good, it is full of character and emotion and there is scarecely a track I wish to skip. NSMBW on the other hand seems to have a few which I like but not that many.
Dialogue: SPM, because good dialogue existed in that game

Verdict: This has definitely been the most difficult comparison I've had to make so far because these two have strengths and differences in very different ways. But I'm going to choose Super Paper Mario as our winner. Whilst SPM had cool gameplay elements I think the other things NSMBW does right and especially its superior level design, make it a better game as a game. Whereas SPM had the amazing story and everything which is appreciable but isn't part of the gameplay itself. I think the matter of which is better really depends on how much non gameplay stuff is valued which is... quite controversial. Whilst I don't claim to be the most knowledgeable, I really do think that non gameplay stuff can give MaRPGs a huge boost, I know tons of people who love SPM so much more because of its story. Overall therefore, I'd say SPM's non gameplay elements place it ahead of NSMBW, though the comparison is difficult, because SPM goes above and beyond with feeling like a truly magical and unique experience rather than just NSMBW which feels like a generic Mario game, even if its level design is better
 
In my opinion, Dialogue and Story should fall under the same rating category. Dialogue is a part of the writing, and the writing is essentially what makes the story in the first place. To have a separate rating for dialogue is also kinda unfair for games with no dialogue getting pit against those that do.
 
Rinka Hayami said:
In my opinion, Dialogue and Story should fall under the same rating category. Dialogue is a part of the writing, and the writing is essentially what makes the story in the first place. To have a separate rating for dialogue is also kinda unfair for games with no dialogue getting pit against those that do.
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The story is kind of the plot at its core whereas the dialogue is how cleverly its crafted to present humour/emotion/personality/etc. So I'd say they're distinct, as it's possible for a game to have one being good whilst the other being bad (at least in one direction)
 
Yes but you could have dialogue being a sub-category to the story writing. If a game has a good plot but is badly written, this could still affect the story as a whole. Most of the time in many games, the dialogue is the primary source of story unless you're not playing a story-centered game. Although dialogue can also affect world-building, something else that I actually feel should be acknowledged.

Point is, I just see the dialogue as something that affects elements of a game but it shouldn't be like a separate ranking from anything. It also puts many good games that don't have dialogue at a disadvantage. There's my two cents on the matter.
 
Super Mario Galaxy (1)

Nintendo's first two 3D Marios were fairly popular, and its third was no dissappointment at all. Super Mario Galaxy wowed fans and critics and rose to almost unanimous positive reception. I'm here to agree with that.

I'm going back to the gameplay/level/presentation structure I had before.

Gameplay was great, it's almost identical to Galaxy 2 which I have already reviewed, it's got tight controls, clever use of Wii motion and pointing, spin jump really helps with platforming, cool powerups, and generally feels very well equipped for 3D platforming. The gameplay gets a 9 out of 10.

The level design was also pretty good. It follows a differentish formula to its two predecessors in that it has a larger number of galaxies but each galaxy doesn't have as many courses. The courses within the galaxies feel less open world and more linear, and one can usually one get one star in one course selection (unlike in SM64 as for instance you could often select star 2 and end up collecting star 5). They were also much easier than before, although I think that's mostly defendable due to being an early Wii game (hence marketed in large part at casual/younger audiences) although I still think that optional challenges for 100% would have been nice, yeah we had a few like Luigi's purple coins or lava spire, but overall even 100% was still a bit easy if you ask me. Nonetheless, the courses are overall very well constructed and creative. The level design gets an 8.5 out of 10.

The presentation in this game was amazing. This game actually has a good story, though it is not quite as good as some MaRPGs, Mario goes for cake and Bowser freaking uses an army of high tech spaceships to lift Peach's castle into the sky and kidnap her, yeah this is just Bowser kidnapping Peach as usual but it's truly set up to feel dramatic. The game had some decent dialogue and we got to meet the mysterious Rosalina, find out her moving backstory, and a wonderful bittersweet ending which has touched the hearts of many players. The game's music is something I like somewhat personally, though it's not my favourite Mario OST, but they had a full orchestra and everything, and most of the community seems to love it, some I'm giving strong points for that one. As for the graphics, they're basically the same as Galaxy 2, in that the artstyle is great, but the graphics are a little outdated, mainly because of lower resolution. Overall Galaxy 1 very much succeeds in feeling like the epic space adventure it was meant to be, more so than its sequel. The presentation gets a 9.5 out of 10.

Conclusion: Super Mario Galaxy 1 is not perfect and has some minor level design problems, gameplay could have been a little more interesting, and story and graphics aren't totally phenomenal, but overall, it's truly a masterpiece, with several qualities that make it stand out among Super Mario games, and has an incredible atmosphere on top of being an awesome gaming experience. If anyone is reading this and hasn't played this game, I suggest you change that right now. Verdict: 9/10.
 
Super Mario Galaxy 1 vs. Super Mario Galaxy 2

Convenience/Portability: Tie - there's negligible difference between the two when it comes to this.
Controls: Tie again, because they're identical.
Gameplay elements: 2. Although it did drop a few elements like the ir-controlled bubbles and the ice flower, I'd argue it's an improvement overall, as we had cool new stuff like the Cloud Flower which was great for platforming. Yoshi I do admit to be a little overrated but still he's nice to have and he even had his own powerups!
Multiplayer: 2. The co-star luma is much more useful than just stunning stuff and picking up starbits.
Length: Probably 2, I don't remember exactly tho.
Balancing: 2. I'd argue the ideal is to be easy for any%, so it's accessible to the kids playing it (being on the Wii), but to be a decent challenge for 100% (to entertain returning fans from Sunshine and players who might otherwise find the game too easy.) 1 seemed too easy overall, even for 100% as only a few stars were that hard, whereas 2 is considerably better balanced, and had plenty of great challenges, especially The Perfect Run.
Postgame: 2, though the Green Stars were kinda filler I think most people would prefer them to the Luigi postgame in 1.
Extras: Tie, neither of them really had any.
Level design: Difficult to decide as they're both so great but probably 2, I just find it easier to recall genius levels in 2 than 1 and can't think of any bad ones for either.
Graphics: Tie, they were the same.
Story: 1 absolutely. It has Rosalina's backstory, and has the awesome setup with the airships lifting Peach's castle out of the sky, and then it has the emotional ending with the Lumas sacrificing themselves to save the universe and then having reality reset. 2 on the otherhand just had big bowser responsible for peach gets kidnapped yet again and a bunch of lumas need fuel back.
Characters: 1 - Rosalina > Lubba and idk the NPCs in this one were just better done I feel, plus the presentation of Mario and Bowser was better here, though that is kinda overlapping with story.
Music: 2. Very hard to decide, but the credits theme, sky station galaxy, bowser's galaxy generator, final bowser theme, and the return of many great ones from 1 such as Buoy Base made 2 just about take the cake for me.
Dialogue: I remember 1 have dialogue that was just a little better but really nothing major here.

Conclusion: This is a very difficult comparison to make as they're so similar to each other which is why there were so many ties. Some people would give 1 the crown and push 2 down for being a repetitive sequel but not me - in addition to playing 2 first, I do believe that it has standalone value very much comparable to its predecessor, and I don't see any fair reason for putting 1 first just because it came out earlier. I think on the one hand, Galaxy 2 is a better platformer, but on the other, Galaxy 1 feels more grand in terms of its presention, including its story. However, the gameplay seems to be the main attraction of the main series Mario games, so, whilst I regard both games as being truly excellent, and prefer the first slightly personally, I will give this one to Super Mario Galaxy 2.
 
OK this time I actually forgot so sorry this is a day late

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

In the aforementioned story,
Mr. Mr. Prosecutor Grubba said:
I still remember being 8 years old and having to decide between three games to choose two as xmas presents. Those three games were new super mario bros. wii, super paper mario, and bowser's inside story. I chose the first two. The 25th comes around, I think "I'll try 30 mins of NSMBW and 30 mins of SPM." But NSMBW was so cool I didn't want to stop, I carried on playing for a few days. After all my parents looked at Super Paper Mario and were like "you sure you want that silly paper one, it doesn't look very good." but nah I chose it anyway. But yeah it didn't look that cool tbh. And then my brother played it and I walked in on him and that very second it hit me THIS GAME IS FREAKING AMAZING I HAVE TO PLAY IT RIGHT NOW and oh my god I was not dissappointed
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Anyway I did get to play BIS not too long after and yeah it was lots of fun. I think I didn't fully appreciate it when I was younger as I often found lots of it weird and the gameplay too hard, but as I grew up I managed to defeat the final boss for the first time and watch the ending which I had wanted to 5 years ago but just couldn't no matter how hard I focused on taking down the
Dark Star Core.
Returning to it as a teenager, yeah this game is awesome (personally), Fawful is an awesome villain, the story I love, and the gameplay I find fun, and I get lots of nostalgia for this game. It's my favourite game that I own on a handheld by a longshot (though to be honest, it wouldn't be if I were ranking on gameplay alone.)

Story: I wouldn't call it first three Paper Mario level good, but still, it was great. This game is bizarre in an entertaining way, and highly comedic - Mario and Luigi getting inhaled by Bowser eating an evil mushroom from a beanish mechanical genius? Mind blown. The game starts with the Blorbs disease causing trouble in the Mushroom Kingdom, and then it goes onto Bowser trying to get his castle back, and then
We find out about the Dark Star, which is the real threat of the story, as Fawful wishes to use it to become the evil ruler of the mushroom kingdom. The brothers then need to go and find the three pieces to get the Miracle Toadley Cure, and use it to infiltrate Peach's castle which has been overrun by Fawful (in addition to the Miracle Cure eliminating the blorbs.) Bowser defeats Midbus and interrupts Fawful's absorption of the Dark Star's power, but the Dark Star enters his body and clones Bowser's DNA to become an evil version of him, and the two eventually merge to become a fully fledged Dark Bowser, and the Dark Star Core inside, but the brothers and Bowser still defeat them, and Dark Fawful dies in a final suicide attack in attempt to finish his foes, but they just end up leaving his body. The ending was cool with Bowser fighting the bros. and his minions, who had earlier betrayed him, going back to him, and him opening the cake at the end.
The main things holding me back from giving the story a really high mark are just that it didn't have quite as much interesting content as I would say SPM and TTYD did, and it lacks any real structure like those games have, just playing gameplay and the dialogue and cutscenes show up from time to time. The content of the story is wacky and unique, but that's really it; it doesn't feel like a truly epic adventure like TTYD or a grand scale multiverse at stake lore like SPM. Nonetheless, it has plenty to love. The story gets an 8 out of 10.

Gameplay: Pretty good but at the same time, not phenomenal. The game has overworld exploration, where the bros. gradually gain abilities from simple jumping and hammering to tornado gliding and drilling holes in the ground to stimulate Bowser's nerves. For some reason this is in 2D when in Bowser's body, but honestly that's not too bad, as it's still interesting. The challenges that are set up are frequently well made and I fail to recall anything too bad this game had. The chakroads and Bowser body pipes allowed for quick overworld travel. As for Bowser, he also gains abilities, though in not quite the same variety, and he has interesting challenges using his abilities. The ability to switch between the bros. and Bowser was a really neat thing. The game also has pretty cool minigames for things like when Bowser grows giant, Mario and Luigi do a minigame in the boat in his body and then he goes giant and gains a fresh combat system. The battle system I'd say was decent, as it has some cool special attacks, and gear you can use to upgrade yourself, a progressive level-up system, and items. However, the overall system doesn't have much strategy - most boss fights are won simply by spamming your most powerful special attacks and using items to replenish when low. Some of the special attacks take quite a long time, unlike in Superstar Saga where I found them to be snappy. The battle system can also be annoying in that it gets in the way of things, as running into an enemy triggers the battle system when you might not want it to, and fleeing is costly unless you have the special socks (I forget their exact name) which let you do it instantly for free. Though the level up system was OK, what that means is that you can just grind to become really OP and flatten every boss, but if you avoid combat it can get kinda tricky (especially if you are a young and less experienced player, which I believe to have been a large part of BIS's intended audience) and a few slipups can end it, whereas I feel TTYD's level up system was more balanced. The doging attacks this was pretty cool and more interesting than superguarding if you ask me, though it could get a little repetitive. The boss zone in Bowser's body may have been cool, but requires huge amounts of grinding enemies to give you a shot at killing
Bowser X.
I'd say that the battle system is somewhat of a letdown, but its field gameplay and level design are good redeeming qualities, especially the Bowser and Mario bros. interactions. The gameplay gets an 8 out of 10.

Presentation: Amazing. Graphics are kinda outdated but the art style is well suited. The dialogue is excellently crafted and adds much charm and personality, especially for Bowser, Broque Monsieur, and Fawful. The Mario Bros. speaking to each other has that funny charm too. The music was truly amazing, the star of the show being In The Final, an epic final boss theme, the Deep Castle theme, which feels haunting and dramatic, and the credits theme Travelling About on a Journey of Memories which feels powerful and nostalgic and reminds you of all the fun you had in your adventure. The game as a whole feels lively and entertaining, and is helped greatly by its presentation, in spite of its graphics being a letdown. The presentation gets a 9 out of 10.

Conclusion: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is a very good game all around, it may not be a masterpiece on the same level SPM and TTYD are, and probably PM64 too (though I haven't finished that game) , but it's still great, it's story is cool and fun, its gameplay is fun and well made in spite of the battle system's flaws, and the presentation really makes it feel like the cool journey it was always meant to be. Verdict: 8.5/10.
 
Minecraft
Dusk Lobber said:
minecraft also counts, i always thought of it as a dumb game which people play when they have better things to do, and i tried it on my friend's phone age 10 and it sucked, but later on our family stayed in a holiday home which had an xbox 360 in it and the respective minecraft edition. i thought "hey its that stupid game again" but once again my brother played it and instantly changed my mind, and again i discovered a new favourite from him, minecraft was my second favourite game of all time for the next three years, until i discovered ttyd
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so yeah this game means a lot to me.

and im going free style this time too.

minecraft is now the most selling video game ever so theres no doubt that its a huge deal culturally. i love this game so much, ive got loads of books for it and its just phenomenal how much cool stuff can come out of this game. thats kind of the beauty of a game which is fundamentally so simple. and if you want simple youre in luck; in java at least, visiting past versions of minecraft is entirely possible and fully supportive, plus if you want to play the classic version you can play it for free here. but at the same time this is a game that has been continuously improved over 11 years, and is only getting bigger and better and bigger and better. but you dont need to keep paying (well, if you got java and/or bedrock, the latter of which was given for free to those who owned minecraft xbox one, ps4, switch, and formerly java) - one buy and you have the game and all its future, no ads or anything, for life
www.minecraft.net

Embrace the Past with Minecraft Classic

Hated every update we’ve ever released? Then it’s your lucky day!
www.minecraft.net www.minecraft.net
just mining and replacing blocks, it doesnt sound like much but over the years its grown into something truly amazing. the survival experience can be varied in a huge number of ways and at its core its well put together; the simpler combat (bedrock, console, java pre-1.9) is just that; it's simple, but it works really well and gives ample challenges and can be adjusted to fit the player's liking of how difficult they want to make it without changing how much of the game there is to enjoy. the more complex combat is interesting as well and changes everything up with a different strategy, even if im not a fan of everything personally

creative mode is an incredibly powerful tool which allows creativity and imagination like never before - building your houses and constructions can be really satisfying and beautiful to see it all come together (although it can take a long time). redstone is an unbelievably game-changing mechanic and it still blows me away the kind of things people built back in 2014 or so let along 2020. i myself did some stuff with it back in the day and ive never built anything that crazy but still to have functioning electrical systems inside this game is just insane.

and you can share stuff online REALLY easily, so you can enjoy and explore other peoples maps, worlds, creations, and survival experiences theyve set up. i intend to be recreating the first three paper mario games in minecraft and once i am done i will be able to share the world downloads here so other people with minecraft java will be able to play them at no extra cost, very easy. bedrock is even easier, download an .mcworld open it and done. thereas a huge deal of stuff out there to try not even i have time to try it all. i even managed to find a recreation of flipside in minecraft!

and thats before we even get into mods, mods can change the game in a huge number of ways and vary the survival experience even more, make creating things even easier, and make the game look absolutely amazing. at least when i do bedrock i use the esbe 2.0 and it makes the game look really nice (though its not as good as the super duper graphics pack would have been). and its not like java version or dolphin or whatever where you actually have to set things up carefully, with bedrock all you do is go here

ESBE 2G Shader - Outdated | Minecraft PE Texture Packs

mcpedl.com mcpedl.com
download it and run it and youre done

in fact you dont even need mods to make the game much more fun, some cool plugins will do the job for you.

and bedrock is super easy with controllers and touchscreens to, the game works good enough with those methods (though i really do prefer keyboard and mouse or a controller to using a touchscreen).

and its got excellent multiplayer too, playing with a friend (or many friends) is relatively easy (especially on bedrock) and theres all sorts of servers out there with really popular and fun minigames.

minecraft also has a great ost, and the music discs are fun to. and people even make popular songs with noteblocks in it! or you can put custom music into it too (admittedly though i dont know exactly how, but ive used resource packs that do so)

in conclusion, minecraft is an exceptional game in so many ways with extremely powerful capabilities, and sure there are other sandbox games out there that have a lot of stuff, but this game is built from something so simple and can capture the heart of almost anyone, the game has so many ways in which you can entertain yourself and is the same game at the same time. its probably the most popular game of all time, and for a good reason; it wouldnt be if not for its amazing capacities, multiplayer ways to play, servers, redstone, infinite worlds, and everything else incredible the game does. its a beautiful masterpiece through and through, it does almost everything well that it could do well. minecraft too will always have a special place in my heart and it will never fail to charm me to visit my old worlds - time capsules to the past at the same time that i can do all sorts of cool stuff. verdict: 10/10.
 
well i should have done this last saturday really but better late than never

Super Paper Mario vs. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

i am doing something different than before, because they are both rpgs, so there is a different format than platformers

main plot: spm. the ancient thing, the chaos heart prophecy, the pure heart hiding, the tribe of darkness, count blecks backstory and his gathering of minions, the stakes of the whole universe being slowly obliterated, the ending, far outweigh bowsers inside story.
individual plot arcs: spm. the chapter format gives it so much of an advantage next to the m&l series, and its got great stuff like luvbi and the floro sapiens things, bis didnt have that much.
major characters: spm. perhaps the most well made characters in spm lie within the antagonists of the game, but the heroes are presented very well too (bis is good too, especially with bowser, but overall id say spm was a little ahead).
minor characters: spm. that game has loads of cool characters from watchitt and squirps to the hammer bro captain and the two goomba companions. i guess broque monsieur was really good, but hes the only minor character id say bis really has going for it.
field gameplay: spm. although it was a little annoying with the character switching whereas bis was shoulder button to change action at most, id say overall it was worth it with all the character and pixl abilites in a way thats never really been touched before, particularly the flip ability even if its potential wasnt fully realised, bis was good too with bowser and bros switching and the abilities gained over time but overall i think spm's field gameplay was better made.
level design / objectives: bis. that game never failed to have a cool variety of challenges and minigames for the player to try, and even things like the ice globin elevator you move around with the touch screen, and its got secrets and lots of replay value. spm on the other hand was mostly decent but some parts were just not ok, or were kinda boring
battle system: bis. though i would say it had its flaws, and could have been better, its not as flawed as spm, and was considerably less broken than that, and has more variety and entertainingness
graphics: spm: its on the wii rather than the nds, so of course it is, but i also think the artstyle was more special in this game, and it well conveyed the "out of this dimenison" atmosphere.
music: spm: as always this is very much difficult to judge non personally but i really do think its more beautiful, it has lots of variety, it sounds cleaner coming from the wii, its got the main theme which gets remixed in lots of powerful ways and yeah bis i would say had a good ost, but spm was even better if you ask me
dialogue: spm: they were both great, but spm has more dialogue when its meant to, and it seems to have more character and humour
overall atmosphere: spm: it truly does feel like the epic telling of the prophecy and a grand interdimsnional crisis, bis was like fun and all, and thats great too, but it doesnt compare to spm

conclusion: whilst bis has better gameplay, i think spm makes up for it with the other stuff
 
This is like comparing Tetris to Mario Kart, they're two different games in two different genres (SPM is Platformer, BIS is RPG. Tetris is puzzle, Mario Kart is Racing).
 
Nostalgia Critic said:
This is like comparing Tetris to Mario Kart, they're two different games in two different genres (SPM is Platformer, BIS is RPG. Tetris is puzzle, Mario Kart is Racing).
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spm has a different gameplay formula to the mario and luigi series in a lot of ways, but overall they are both marpgs at their core, and i'd argue they're close enough to be able to be compared.
 
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

i thought i'd never find another game like super paper mario, but thankfully i was wrong - though the gameplay formula was somewhat different, paper mario: the thousand-year door once i finally got to play it in 2019 came very close to super paper mario and is now my second favourite game of all time, mainly for its story and atmosphere which reminded me of a lot of the stuff i liked in spm.

story: excellent. it has the cool backstory of the thousand-year door and the ancient civilisation, which is eventually revealed to be
the work of the shadow queen, an incredibly powerful demon who serves as the game's true antagonist and final boss. it gets especially interesting when she possesses peach's body, which was very dramatically set up.
the game's overall plot arc feels like a very grand adventure and he gains cool partners too (although i would say they are a little overrated - once obtained they don't really say anything unless you happen to have them out, and even then i feel like their personalites were often not fully conveyed). the individual chapter plots were awesome, with the dragon and all, and then koops eventually
becoming mayor of petalburg
and then the puni tribe, and the glitz pit, which was really dramatic and had all sorts of cool mysteries until we finally find out
grubba was stealing strength from the fighters who had supposedly dissappeared, and jolene was only there to find out what happened to prince mush, who was her brother - as it turned out, grubba had stolen strength from mush but he was released once mario defeated grubba
the whole thing with doopliss was absolutely crazy, then you go to a pirate island looking for treasure and end up teaming up with the pirate ghosts to have a sea battle with crump and the x naut ship, chapter 6 was meh but at least pennington was a well designed character, chapter 7 also but going to the moon was pretty cool and all, even if it doesnt quite hold a candle to literal hell, and then chapter 8 brings the main plot together and is a great ending. plus tec's story was quite moving to. the game does well with characters minor and major overall, mario himself is well presented, but the villains could be better (an issue super paper mario more than overcame.) that being said, i could point out a few problems the plot has, like how princess peach is still kidnapped and remains in a less active role, and a significant part of the plot revolves around saving her, but the bowser side story was good. then also i'd say the opening was a bit confusing to first time players, but we get to understand the plot more later. so, short of a few small problems and all, the story is overall extremely entertaining and gets a 9.5 out of 10.

gameplay is next. and i have to admit it is just a little overrated. the field gameplay - i guess it works, but its nothing phenomenal. you can move and jump around but it doesn't feel like mainline mario games where there's all sorts of challenges to do and you feel free and there's loads of stuff (especially since the jump is a lot less powerful here, yes there is the spring jump but that doesn't let you move horizontally so can't be used for platforming unless they give you something to hold on to.) now i get those games have different aims than ttyd did but what that means, is that ttyd's field gameplay doesn't have all that much to it. you start with just moving jumping and hammering, and you gain abilities that you use to solve puzzles, but its nothing hugely impressive. also another problem was the lack of fast travel - yes the blue pipes but they weren't always readily accessible, ideally there should be something better than them. still tho, it's interesting to solve the puzzles and it's perfectly decent. the level design as a whole was decent, but it could be poorly done some of the time. things like chapter 4 in ttyd, the chuckola cola in chapter 5, and general white in chapter 7 could involve lots of backtracking which was annoying. but the palace of shadow demonstrates great level design - it puts together all the abilites you've gotten so far and gives you a massive gauntlet of puzzles and enemies and bosses. that's how paper mario level design should be done. additionally, we had the pit of 100 trials which although it sucked not to be able to save was a genuinely cool challenge which it's good it exists. the trouble centre wasn't bad either. the game as a whole is appropriately long. the main attraction the gameplay has is the battle system. people point out flaws like the stage rng and sure that wasn't ideal, but as a whole, despite some minor issues it was really well done. instead of just spamming all your most powerful attacks and replenishing with items when low, the item cap means you actually have to be strategic about when you use your items, and all the partners have different strengths and weaknesses. the badge system was well implemented, even though bp was overpowered, and makes players think carefully about which badges to use. and if you want more of a challenge, that's perfectly available, with challenges like bp only, double pain badge, level zero, and impossible mode, although admittedly those do just become superguarding after a while. the gameplay as a whole is mainly good because of its excellent battle system, despite that its field gameplay and level design could be better. the gameplay gets an 8 out of 10.

presentation: great. graphics-wise, the gamecube does hold it back somewhat, but its artstyle was pretty cool, and the game looks awesome when run in 1080 with hd textures in an emulator. the music was amazing, and has all sorts of dramatic tracks and beautifully composed pieces which often match the situation very well - personally, this is one of my favourite vgm soundtracks of all time. the dialogue was funny and full of character. the worlds frequently have different towns and each one has its own feel. the game as a whole has a truly epic atmosphere of the quest for the crystal stars. the presentation gets a 9 out of 10.

conclusion: paper mario the thousand year door is an absolutely amazing game, it does so many things right and is close to a perfect example of how paper mario should be, held back by a few flaws, but still excellent overall. unfortunately it has become quite difficult to obtain by legitamate means (buying even second hand copies online has become very expensive, the game has never been re-released in any way, so let's hope n remaster this game) but if you can play this game, i entirely recommend you do. verdict: 9/10.
 
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Super Paper Mario vs. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

literally my top two favourite games of all time. this is intensely difficult to make without being biased and just because i love both these games so much.

main plot: spm. they were both amazing, but super paper mario is more emotional and is a lot more high stakes with the universe being in peril, and how count bleck is revealed to be emotionally tormented rather than truly evil, only to be
backstabbed by a magic jester bent on becoming king of the multiverse
not that ttyd's was bad by any stretch cause it wasnt, but super paper mario's main plot is more well made of the two
individual plot arcs: ttyd. the plot in most chapters of this game was a lot more powerful and entertaining that spm was, although spm was good too, and i'd say the last three chapters of that game had better individual plot arc's than ttyd's.
major characters: spm. again the antagonists of this game are la creme de la creme and the heroes are amazingly presented too, though ttyd is a strong competitor with its partners and mario himself
minor characters: ttyd. the npcs and town inhabitants were much more creatively made than anything in spm.
field gameplay: spm. in addition to keeping the abilities and puzzle solving and finding secrets, super paper mario's field gameplay has many things to it that go much above its two predecessors, including a heavier focus on platforming gameplay, the pixls being used for a variety of purposes, and, most notably, the flip ability.
level design / objectives: spm. i would say that both of these games had overall decent level design with some bad bits. i would say the poor level design is more acute in spm, such as with 2-3 and 5-1, but in general, i'd argue spm's was more interestingly made - the division of the chapters into four parts helped structure the chapters unlike in the first two games and we had cool places with plenty of interesting puzzles and 2d-mario esque levels that also feel unique, and even remakes of smb1 levels!
battle system: ttyd by a longshot. ttyd's battle system short of a few minor flaws was excellently made and had lots of cool strategy and plenty of badges and moves and built upon pm64 in a lot of ways. spm on the other hand threw all that out the window for a unique, but ultimately mediocre, real time combat system
graphics: spm, because it's on the wii, although i would say ttyd has a slightly superior artstyle
music: spm. ttyd is one of my favourite osts of all time believe me, and maybe this is me being biased, but spm's soundtrack is a true blessing
dialogue: spm: it has more cool dialogue and it seems to better be funny and entertaining and represent the character of the speaker, ttyd is close tho
overall atmosphere: spm: it does better to feel like an absolutely out of this world atmosphere, ttyd felt epic too but it didn't quite succeed in achieving quite the same

conclusion: as i said at the start, this is an incredibly difficult comparison for me to make - i regard both games personally and nonpersonally as excellent on their own and pitting them against each other is not easy. i could definitely make the argument for spm being better made, as, looking at the above it does seem to win in the majority of categories, but on the other hand, ttyd is just a kind of game that i can recommend to everyone and almost guarantee they'll love it, whereas spm despite being more creative with its field gameplay and level design ultimately doesn't quite get as good as its two predecessors gameplay-wise and is very much flawed in that area - it doesn't quite follow the traditional paper mario formula whereas ttyd is agreed by most including me to be a near perfect example of what paper mario should be. really though, as far as recommendability is concerned, their fanbases overlap strongly - so, if you're going to play one of these games, i really recommend you play both, and if you haven't played either, i recommend both with all my heart. unfortunately ttyd has become quite difficult to obtain legit so #RemasterThousandYearDoor
 
Super Mario 64

imma go back to the platform style. as i haven't played the nds remake, i am only considering n64 version here

gameplay: of course as one of the first 3d platformers and one of the biggest pioneers, it was extremely powerful back in 1996: but it don't hold up all that great. later 3d marios have much tighter and more accurate controls whereas here movement doesn't feel quite so sharp, and things like the wallkick can only be done for a few frames, and when pressing B in midair it can kinda get hard to tell whether you're going to do a midair kick or a dive, and as such midair control is lacking, which has been fixed by pretty much every 3d mario since (fludd, spin, tanooki, peach, cappy). the caps are fun but are kinda like underused and theres only three of them, whereas games like galaxy 2 and 3d world have much greater variety. the gameplay stuff gets a 6.5/10.

level design uses an open world style which despite not being the biggest fan myself, seems to be popular amongst a lot of mario fans so that deserves a shoutout. the game has 15 courses and 120 stars which i mean that's a decent amount and impressive for 1996 but it's not a huge amount today, and the courses weren't actually that large and didn't have all that much to do in them. like in whomp's fortress for instance for two different star missions they just use the same course and instead of putting the whomp king there there's just a tower to climb. and like, for 1996, that's perfectly understandbale and forgivable, but now.... it's not that great. and the open world style can have its downsides, for instance straightforward 3d platforming challenge in here isn't as readily accessible as it is in later games, and what if someone doesn't like looking for secrets all the time. the game is heavily dependent on secrets and while this can be entertaining and such secrets can feel satisfying to get, it does come at a cost to be THAT dependent on it, as 3d world proves its possible to have cool secrets to find without just depending on it all the time. and things like you gotta get this robot to throw you up is not ideal and so on. the level design gets an 8/10.

finally the presentation: the game actually isn't ugly and has a classic aurora to it through graphics and music alike. the game actually has quite a cute artstyle and feels nicely retro, although yeah the n64 holds it back hugely and it really could do with an hd remake. music was pretty well composed: my personal favourites are the credits and inside the castle walls, and the bob omb battlefield seems to be pretty popular. but they did have to reuse a lot of music e.g. lava and desert having the same which by modern standards i'd consider kind of dissappointing. the game's whole ost is less than an hour, that's not very long. as for the story... it really didn't have anything to it. at least we did have a few interesting characters like koopa the quick or the penuin mom but the game's characters really aren't that special. the presentation gets a 7/10.

conclusion: super mario 64 was earth shattering back in 1996, but sadly age has taken its toll on this game: it isn't what it used to be. but still, it can be a fun classic experience, it has its good bits, and i still am going to recommend thisk game. verdict: 7/10.
 
Super Mario 64 vs. Super Mario Galaxy (1)

convenience/portability: sm64. you might think i chose this because of its nds version, but i'm not including that because i haven't played that so am only considering the n64 version. instead i chose it because if you're playing this game more contemporarily, there's a good chance you'll be playing on wii u vc which means you can just grab the gamepad and go, and have save states and restore points. smg1 on the other hand is less of a game you can just jump into, and doesn't have save states and restore points.
controls: smg1. although the motion things could be a bit annoying especially with the ray and the star points they overall seem to add to the quality of the game. as for how the moves feel and your sense of control in-game, galaxy is definitely tighter and more precise, as it should be being 11 years newer.
gameplay elements: smg1. of course this game still has the same moveset that sm64 has pretty much (aside from the dive) but the spin is much more useful than the kick was. smg1 still has slides and cannons, but it also adds other cool stuff like the bubble and loads of cool powerups. it even still has a flying one.
multiplayer: smg1: although it was certainly less than ideal, at least it was existent here.
length: sm64: i don't really know which is longer but smg1 only requires 60 stars and reaching the engine room as a requirement is pretty hard not to do if you have 60 stars, and the stars in smg1 seem to take less time to get.
balancing: sm64: i get that smg1 was in significant part aimed at younger audiences and all, but sm64 is still easy enough to be accessible to young people, and is a more apt challenge.
postgame: smg1: it lets you save after beating the final boss and gives you the purple coin stars to play with, then gives you the luigi postgame and a few exclusive cutscenes to add to the feeling that you're playing through the postgame of a game. sm64 on the other hand is mostly just going back to grab the stars you didn't before and doesn't let you save. but at least there is a nice iconic secret waiting at 120 stars.
extras: tie: i don't really remember having either game having something i consider "extras" like a minor game mode or minigames.
level design: sm64. this was a tough one as they both have their strengths and weaknesses, but most people seem to like the open world style of sm64 more than the more linear style of smg1.
graphics: smg1: this game's artstyle is widely loved and being on the wii it has far stronger graphical capabilities than on the n64.
story: smg1: sm64 is just the stereotype mario plot whereas although smg1 did still feature peach getting kidnapped by bowser and you go save her, the rosalina backstory was well designed and the ending touched the hearts of many.
characters: smg1 just for having more diversity and uniqueness.
music: smg1. sm64 has a decently popular soundtrack which i also like myself, but almost all the community including myself agrees both galaxies to have truly exceptional music.
dialogue: smg1 because there was more of it and it had at least a bit of character outside of the koopa king himself.

conclusion: smg1 is better - as you'd expect because it's 11 years newer. sm64 was still extremely revolutionary tho, and it hasn't aged too badly.
 
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

i actually wrote a review of this for my school magazine, so i'll just copy and paste that, but it was kinda long so i'm cutting out some of it. at the end i say it was my fourth favourite which... is it true or not? only time from my top 15 games thread will tell

it isn't, i wrote this before playing paper mario 64 which overtook it so it's now fifth. but i love all five of those games (spm, bis, ttyd, sss, pm64)

The story of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga has a powerful charm. Although it is not the deepest story even by the standards of other Mario RPGs, the story certainly has a unique impact on players young and old, and has a valuable host of original characters and a strong plot that will allow the travels of Mario and Luigi through the Beanbean kingdom to remain in the hearts of all who are fortunate enough to play this game. With that, I give the story an 8 out of 10.

The main highlight of the gameplay is the battle system, in which the brothers take it in turns to do something before the enemy attacks. The brothers' options include a Solo attack, using an Item, a Brothers (Bros.) attack, or fleeing the battle. At first, the only option for a Solo attack is jumping, but the options eventually expand to include Hammering and an elemental power (fire and thunder for Mario and Luigi respectively). Using an Item may do things such as recovering Health Points (HP), recovering Badge Points (BP), or curing status ailments. A Bros. attack has special effects and/or deal additional damage, but consume Badge points; fleeing the battle, an option not available to bosses, requires coins.

Coins may be collected in various ways throughout the adventure and can be used to purchase items or gear which can grant temporary or permanent advantages to the player such as increased attack power. Both Solo and Bros. attacks require the player to enter buttons in a certain pattern to succeed in dealing maximum damage: the player may also optionally increase the level of a Bros. attack up from one to three inclusively, which reduces BP cost and increases damage but removes first slow motion and second button icons which make the inputs more difficult to time. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is distinct from most other RPGs as the player can also use well-timed inputs to make Mario and Luigi jump or hammer to avoid or even counterattack enemy attacks. This makes the battle system all the more entertaining as the player is engaged at all times.

This battle system is engaging and gives the player a motivation to progress; however, it lacks the same kind of strategy found in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004). Hence the battle system of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga does not hold up excellently to this day. The battle system can also become quite repetitive as the player is often motivated simply to use their most powerful attack repeatedly whilst occasionally using an item to replenish their HP and BP.

The level design of this game is very good and I cannot think of many places in which its quality stalls, besides perhaps Teehee Valley. Whilst I have not played the game's 2017 remake, I can only imagine that the gameplay the remake is an improvement to original. Overall, the gameplay in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is worthwhile on the large part, but lacks anything excellent and certainly has its flaws, but has since been improved. I give the gameplay a 7 out of 10.

The graphics of the 32-bit Game Boy Advance certainly do not compare to the more modern Nintendo Switch or even the Nintendo 3DS on which the title was remade. I may not have played the remake myself, but I can already tell that it is a visual upgrade. Nonetheless, the pixelated graphics are well used, as the wonderful and colourful designs of the different areas of the realm breathe life into the game, from the epic summit of Hoohoo Mountain to the icy labyrinth of Joke's End. All of the locations in the Beanbean kingdom are named after onomatopoeia for laughter, such as Woohoo Hooniversity and Teehee Valley, which makes Joke's End sound much more sinister.

The music is very good, a favourite of mine being Teehee Valley, but most or all of the tracks fits very well into their environments, although the soundtrack does not compare to the other Mario RPGs I have played.

On the other hand, the dialogue of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is in itself a masterpiece. There is a plethora of humour and charm throughout the game; the various speech patterns of some characters add bucketloads of uniqueness to their personalities. Popple, for instance, has become popular for adding "see?" to the end of his sentences, such as "I'll be taking this, see?" More famously, Fawful is known for speaking "Engrish", parodying some infamous translations from video games originally published in other languages to English. He frequently refers to himself in the first person, insults the brothers by calling them "fink-rats!" and makes many food metaphors such as "this fight shall be the delicious mustard on that bread! … The mustard of your doom!" before his first battle on the Koopa Cruiser. In part because of this, Fawful has risen to popularity amongst fans and returned in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, the latter of which even featured him as the primary antagonist.

All in all, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga has an outstanding presentation that warrants a 9 out of 10 from me.

To conclude, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, which was excellent for its time, is a highly memorable adventure for players young and old. Although it has been overtaken in the gameplay department, the game still shines above the majority of Mario titles both for its story and presentation elements. The game is personally my fourth favourite; I will always remember the travels of the brothers through the Beanbean Kingdom. I shall give Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga an 8 out of 10, and with that a strong recommend for all.
 
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story vs. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

This more or less matches the reasons I gave for preferring Bowser's Inside Story myself yesterday except nostalgia.

Main plot: BIS. Although I would strongly commend the plot arc involving
Cackletta "dying" (but not really dying) only halfway though the plot after being defeated by Mario & Luigi (and it wasn't even like she was being easy on them or was weakened) and having Fawful use his vacuum helmet so she could possess Bowser.
I would say that BIS was more positively whacky overall especially with Bowser's body and all whilst also having more drama and turns and so on with the blorbs initially seeming the main problem but then Peach gets lost and a large part of the plot revolves around finding her but when you finally do
She reveals the true threat of the plot: the Dark Star, which eventually becomes Dark Bowser
So yeah BIS was better overall.
Individual plot arcs: BIS. I'd say this is harder to judge than first three PMs without the clear chapter structure but I would say that they both had a good amount of times where story occurs which isn't really tied to the main story, but BIS seems to have more of them and does them better.
Major characters: BIS. I recognise I may have some degree of personal bias, but Fawful does seem to be a well recieved character who was presented very entertainingly in SSS but now he gets even more time in the spotlight and is cooler than ever. Bowser also was presented awesomely and had a nice contrast of powerfulness and funniness. The bros. themselves are presented just as they should be, whilst Starlow is a pretty good partner. SSS did have some great ones too like it had Fawful and Cackletta and the bros. themselves are also presented very well in SSS and I also think Prince Peasley was fairly entertaining. I'd argue BIS did better overall.
Minor characters: BIS. Idk it's hard to choose but I guess like the 'enemies' that weren't really enemies were pretty cool in BIS. Both games though have lots of minor characters that add lots of character and personality to their worlds.
Field gameplay: BIS. I was going to say Superstar Saga since the hand magic thing was cool as was switching the bros. positions and even controlling them separately. But then I remembered Bowser exists and his additions to field gameplay alone probably outweigh SSS, particularly when the bros. and Bowser team up.
Level design / Objectives: SSS. They were both great, so I find it hard to choose, but I'd say BIS did have a few points involving like backtracking or forcing you to take a break, whereas SSS was all good.
Extras: SSS, it comes with the Mario Bros. remake.
Minigames: BIS. Of course that game had the obvious advantage of the DS's hardware, and in particular, the touchscreen, but they sure did a great job of utilising it.
Battle system: BIS. Bowser added a whole new dimension to the game, and his special attacks used the touchscreen well. As for Mario and Luigi's side of things I'd say BIS is at least as good as, if not better than, SSS, although they did remove the "easy modes" for the attacks, and the special attacks take longer. Also as I did say for me personally, but I think it's something fans will appreciate: BIS isn't as dependent on grinding enemies to level up.
Graphics: BIS, having superior hardware it takes the win easily.
Music: BIS. This was very hard to choose as I love both, but I think the community in general says BIS's soundtrack is better, and if really forced to choose, I think I can agree.
Dialogue: BIS. They were both amazing but I think BIS just has more personality in it.
Overall atmosphere: BIS. It does better at achieving an awesome yet lighthearted charm.
Conclusion: BIS. I can't comment on Partners in Time, Dream Team, Paper Jam, or the remakes, but from SSS to BIS I can confidently say Nintendo strongly succeeded in upgrading the series in most ways.
 
Killer Moth said:
This battle system is engaging and gives the player a motivation to progress; however, it lacks the same kind of strategy found in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004). Hence the battle system of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga does not hold up excellently to this day. The battle system can also become quite repetitive as the player is often motivated simply to use their most powerful attack repeatedly whilst occasionally using an item to replenish their HP and BP.
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But is this really different from Paper Mario, strategy-wise where the main strategy is just spamming your multibounces until enemies keel over?
 
Brawl Mario said:
But is this really different from Paper Mario, strategy-wise where the main strategy is just spamming your multibounces until enemies keel over?
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well the numbers are smaller in paper mario where you have to think about it. and i think in paper mario there is at least more of a question as to which is the best attack - do you multibounce, spring jump, do you get into peril and risk it or charge lots of times. plus the item limits, although yoshi flutter jump didn't seem to like them, actually force you to use your items strategically. and in ttyd, you also have the question of do you just guard or go for the superguard, whereas sss only lets you dodge attacks in one way.

plus paper mario had partners and star power which sss didn't, and i also find that the way badges were implemented in ttyd had a greater depth of strategy than sss.
 
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